IT may have taken a considerable period of time to get the message through but it appears at last that the number of drivers who believe that getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol is socially acceptable is dwindling.
Figures showing that the numbers who have failed breath tests in Edinburgh in the last ten years have nearly halved should be welcomed by all.
The breathalyser was introduced in the UK 40 years ago with the aim of curbing the increasing number o
f accidents in which alcohol was a factor. In an age when few questions were asked about drinking and driving, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents estimates 13,000 people a year were injured or killed in road accidents involving drink before breath testing began in 1967.
Although the breathalyser cannot be given sole credit for totally changing social habits, it has been instrumental in driving these figures down to a point where, despite a sharp increase in the number of vehicles on the roads, only 2500 accidents were drink related in 2006. But drink-driving still accounts for around 40 deaths and 170 serious injuries on the roads annually in Scotland and, despite high-profile campaigns run annually over Christmas, the numbers caught during the festive period remains fairly constant.
Despite such publicity many drivers are still prepared to take a risk, thinking they will get away with it. The bulk of these are male and over 25 years of age. Eighty-four per cent of all those caught fall into this category.
It is to be hoped that the practice of automatically breathalysing any driver committing any offence, which came into force last December, will see fewer prepared to take such risks and it is heartening to see many young drivers appear to be adopting a more sensible approach.
The officer in charge of last year's festive blitz in the Lothians has already led calls for tougher penalties to dissuade serious and repeat offenders. Inspector Jill Kerr, from the force's road policing unit, said custodial sentences or lifetime driving bans could be among the measures considered.
RoSPA would like to see the limit reduced from 80mg to 50mg, claiming that those who fall between these two limits are two-and-a-half times more likely to be involved in a crash. It is not a suggestion without merit.
Although today's figures are encouraging, there is no room for complacency, and drink-driving remains a major problem, although it has been overtaken as a major safety issue by the use of mobile phones while driving. More than 300 were caught in a single day in Scotland driving while holding a mobile phone. Hopefully it will not take 40 years for the message to get through that this practice is equally dangerous and every bit as socially unacceptable as drink-driving.
The full article contains 487 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
